Fellowes Interiors - Just Africa Interiors
from Africa. Located in Florida, Arizona and Africa

Just
Africa You don't have to go on a real safari for a taste of Africa.
After excursions to Asoka Bali in Wilton Manors and Spirit of Vietnam
in Fort Lauderdale, Artbeat recommends a shopping safari at Just Africa,
near the eastern end of the East Las Olas Boulevard business district.
Cash and credit cards are the preferred equipment for a safari at this
combination store/gallery, which opened in December 2001.The owner is Don Fellowes Wilson, a South African whose
inspiration for this shop was his Fellowes Interiors back in Cape Town,
and the inventory consists exclusively of items from his native continent.
The big game here are beautifully carved versions of such fauna as elephants,
giraffes, and hippopotamuses in various sizes. Most are made of kiaat,
a golden-brown hardwood that's the African equivalent of teak, although
the store's miniature zoo also includes some mahogany hippos. Just Africa specializes in furniture -- sofas, chairs,
and ottomans covered in leather made from ostriches and the large African
antelopes called kudu. The velvety pelts of Burchell's zebras are also
used for some pieces, and I saw a couple of large wine racks made of Rhodesian
mahogany, one of which was fashioned from railway ties. The shop also offers carved heads and masks, throw pillows,
kiaat boxes and chests, hand-blown glass, lamps, and whimsical
ceramic figurines by Cape Town artist Tania Babb. And there's an array
of pieces
made from Kenyan kisi, a soapstone carved and painted to
create bowls, platters, plates, boxes, animal figurines, and tiny "snake boxes" that
slide open to reveal a surprise. But the most intriguing items are such
exotica as Tanzanian "chief sticks," carved wood human figurines
so thin and elongated that they could be African cousins
of some of Giacometti's metal sculptures; carved ceremonial drums from
Cameroon; silver bracelets
with elephant hair woven around them; and especially large
ostrich eggshells, which are so thick and durable that they can be fashioned
into lampshades
or decorated and glazed to form freestanding art objects
as gorgeous as they are useless. Just Africa is at 1209 E. Las Olas Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale.
Call 954-767-9220. Written by Michael MillsFrom newtimesbpb.comOriginally published by Broward-Palm Beach New Times 2004-05-20